OH MY GOODNESS!  

Soooo..... I was on Pinterest and ran into a picture of a "Little Free Library".  I've read a story or two about these before, usually in the old back woods where children have never seen a book before.  Having been a children's librarian and a total book "junkie", the wheels started to turn.  This could be a tempting addition to put up on the corner of our preschool/daycare property.  (Only if Bountiful City ordinances allow for it, of course.)  We have other commercial properties all over Davis County that could be options as well

"Little Free Libraries" are made out of every conceivable thing under the sun, but the premise is this:  "Take a book, Leave a Book."  Little Free Libraries are also referred to as community book exchanges, neighborhood book exchanges, book trading posts, pop-up libraries, and micro-libraries.  I could choose to affiliate with this nonprofit organization, "Little Free Library", (see their web site here at https://littlefreelibrary.org/) or simply do my own thing.  The benefit of joining this organization is that the library is put on a GPS map and you become part of a community, all doing the same cool thing.  I have access to lots of inexpensive books and it would be a "unique" and fun way to not only encourage our students at Ready-Set-Grow to read and possibly neighbors as well.  Books for all ages and stages are used!

My 23 year old son loves woodworking and he is jazzed about helping out!  

 Bountiful, Utah has a wonderful library, but sometimes working moms don't find the time to get their children there.  Maybe this will simply benefit our own students, but either way, it is a cool idea to look in to doing!

Here's a bit of history from the Little Free Library website, that I found interesting.   

Little Free Library inOosthuizen, Netherlands

The first Little Free Library in Hudson, Wisconsin

The idea was popularized in Hudson, Wisconsin, in 2009 when Todd Bol mounted a wooden container designed to look like a school house on a post on his lawn as a tribute to his mother, who was a book lover and school teacher. Bol shared his idea with his partner, Rick Brooks, who spread the word, and the idea spread rapidly. 

The original goal was the creation of 2,150 Little Libraries, which would surpass the number of libraries founded by Andrew Carnegie. As of January 2014, there are over 15,000 Little Libraries worldwide. As of February 2013, all 50 U.S. states and 40 countries worldwide have been involved in the program.   An estimated 1,650,000 books were donated and borrowed from 2010 to 2013.

This number now exceeds 36,000 libraries.

Here are a few new pics of the classroom.  I painted the lockers since this picture and I love them.  I did them in turquoise blue and lime green, 2 of the colors in my "palette" of 4.  I still have 5 more to paint though.  UGH!

New Preschool Classroom Decor - "By the Sea"

I have spent about a month working nonstop to decorate my large preschool room in an Ocean Theme.   DISCLAIMER: I used the graphics from SGS, but also added a few additional ocean graphics that I thought went well with SGS's By the Sea collection. www.schoolgirlstyle.com  I am super happy with the way it has turned out and want to show you some pictures.  I purchased School Girl Style's "By the Sea" Collection of graphics and fonts, letters, labels and way more.  Go over to Melanie's amazing classroom decor site at School Girl Style and find dozens of tempting and dreamy decor collections for all types of classrooms.  About 2 years ago I used the "Bugs" theme and loved it too.  I highly recommend checking out this site when you are ready to add some color and congruity to your classroom.  The design collection Melanie has created includes carnival, rainbow, camping, woodsy, jungle, ocean, Broadway, and many, many more themes.  It's a great way to decorate every square of your classroom in a particular theme and this includes banners, labels, alphabet, calendars, centers, themed graphics, such as animals.....  By the way, I am NOT in ANY way affiliated with this company, just love her stuff!!!

These two boards are for teachers and parents INFO and NEWS!  It's hard to see that there is a blue, glittery net fabric covering the board above.  Everything looks as though it is under the sea though.

This is another teacher/parent board.  Sea animals are graphics, once again, from the By the Sea Collection at School Girl Style!!!  Love this website and her designs for classrooms!

I found this super cool map at Costco, along with one of the USA.  Around the borders are small squares with pictures from the map in each. The children have to try and locate the picture on the map.  I'm going to add a magnifying glass on a smallish rope.  These maps are big, about 4.5 feet wide and 3' feet tall. They were $13.  The kiddos love trying to search out the pictures on the map.

For OCEAN THEMED curtains, I bought a light turquoise blue netting fabric at JoAns.  It was about $4 a yard, but was also on sale, so I got a great deal on it.  It's not the super stiff kind, but that stuff only costs $1.25.  Once again, it's really hard to tell the color of the fabric due to the sun and light, so I'm retaking them asap.  I simply draped the fabric every 3 feet and then tacked it up with a clothespin.  SUPER SIMPLE!!!  I DIDN'T SEW A THING!  On top of the netting fabric is a fishing net that I got for $1.00 at All a Dollar over the summer.  I attached the ocean animals inside the netting with clothespins as well.  It makes it look like the animals are caught in the net!  I like these CURTAINS, because they add color and charm, without taking away the sunlight!  I also added 2" x 20"strips of fabric on the ends of the windows.

This fun banner is made from the paper that is a part of the School Girl Style "By the Sea" collection.

My jellyfish are my absolute favorite part!  These are plastic bowl from ALL-A-DOLLAR and I attached ribbons of all kinds to the inside, turned them upside down and punched a hole in the tops with a nail.  Most of the bowls cracked when I did this, but it didn't matter, because I simply stuck a long piece of netting into the crack and tied a big know in it and then taped the netting into the inside.  I then tacked the top of the netting to the ceiling, to created a "rope-like" hanger.  My ceiling takes thumb tacks very well, since it is made of wood.  

**NOTE:  The large jars you see in the back, that are stacked up, are animal cracker jars from Costco.  We use animal crackers as snacks and then use the container jars to save our SENSORY BIN THEMED "ITEMS" in!  We have collected 32 containers now, all with items for a specific theme.  I'll do a post of this another time, showing some of the unique things we store in them and the themes they go to.

I created an area called"THE CRAB SHACK" and did a bulletin board, under the clock, with pictures of kids pulling 'CRABBY" faces.  I haven't learned how to blot out faces yet, so I'm not showing this board yet.  I will add, in another post, the fun items I collected and added to the DRAMATIC PLAY AREA for our "CRAB SHACK" restaurant, including menus and place mats...  The lanterns and banner help to distinguish or divide off this area.

This bulletin board is by my book bins.  See larger pictures at the bottom of post.

This is my CIRCLE TIME BOARD!  Plus I use an easel and other items as well.

This board will be used for our BIRTHDAY KIDS or as a "SUPER STAR, SPOTLIGHT" BOARD.

Here is a picture of the classroom from one direction.  I'll be adding pictures of each LEARNING CENTER soon.  I currently have the following centers:  ART AREA,  DISCOVERY & SCIENCE ZONE, DRAMATIC PLAY AREA, CONSTRUCTION ZONE (BLOCKS..); WATER/SAND TABLE or better known to the kids as the SENSORY BIN; WRITING STATION;  BOOK HUT; LISTENING AREA (COUCH); MUSIC AND MOVEMENT RUG; MANIPULATIVE TOYS; LITERACY CENTER; WOODWORKING TABLE and I am adding a COMPUTER TABLE!  This makes 12 Learning Centers, 13 with the addition of the computers.  We also have a GROSS MOTOR AREA OUTSIDE, which is a large playground area.

Hi! I'm back and am happy to say that I am doing well.  It's been a tough couple of years, with some health problems, but things are better than they have ever been and I am excited to share my new ideas as a Preschool Teacher at Ready-Set-Grow Preschool and Child Care.  My husband and I own the business.  We care for over 100 enrolled children aged 2-12.  I run the preschool, teaching children aged 4-5 and I love it!  This blog will be filled with ideas for preschool/kindergarten picture books and connected activities that will enhance these books.  I will share literacy ideas I have used with my Preschoolers and will also share my ideas for setting up my classroom. I use the Creative Curriculum program and will explain how this amazing program works!  Stay tune!